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Voter Funnel Study: Midterm Elections 2018

Television Was the Most Important Influence on the 2018 Voter Decision Process

The U.S. Elections Project estimates that turnout in the 2018 midterm election was 50.3% of eligible voters, making it the highest turnout in a midterm election since 1914, and the first time a majority of eligible voters cast ballots since women gained the right to vote.

The Voter Funnel Study set out to determine the impact of different media used in the 2018 political races and ballot initiatives. An online survey administered by ResearchNow SSI of over 10,000 adults in 10 highly competitive states (Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio & Wisconsin) asked qualified respondents about their exposure to advertising they saw/heard/read in ANY of over 20 media platforms, and what impact it had on them.

Among the results:

Voter decisions were influenced by media. In the first stage of the Voter Funnel, awareness, 91% of voters said some type of media influenced them; with 55% citing TV as the most important. An ad in the mail (6%) and social media (5%) were a distant second and third, respectively.

Television was the most important influence throughout the voter decision process; TV ads affected online search.

66% of voters said television actually motivated them to get out and vote.

Voters find fake news to be most prevalent on social media and cable news, while very few cited local broadcast news.